I was in a preaching class last year and had an eye opening experience. We viewed two videos of preaching. One was a guy who told a moving story about he and his two year old son going on a walk in the woods together and it began to rain. The rain turned into a storm and the little boy was scared to death. The dad was hurrying home as quickly as he could, but the little boy was frantic and screaming. The dad has been carrying his son on his back and they are both soaked to the bone. Finally, as the little boy keeps screaming his dad takes him in his arms and holds him really close and repeats over and over: It’s Ok! I’m here and I’m going to take care of you! We’re going to be home soon! It’s ok.
Then the preacher made an application. He said that God loves us and when life comes down hard on us God is with us and he carries us. God will never let us go. He loves us and he wants us to know that we are safe with him. That was the message.
It was a really encouraging message. Very moving and very easy to identify with, it made us all want to be able to communicate the message of God’s love as clearly. But there was just one thing missing: scripture.
The next video was a sermon from 1 Timothy chapter 1. The preacher read the passage and explored what it said with really good skill. He showed how Paul repeated the word faith over and over in the first few verses and then how he warned about some who had departed from the faith. He explained who Paul was and who Timothy was and who the church was in Ephesus where Timothy was preaching. He made the text come to life for me.
Then he made an application. He said that one of the things Jesus Christ came to build in us is saving faith. That faithfulness to Jesus is foundational to our life in Christ. He reflected on the faithfulness of God to us and how God’s love was shown so clearly in Jesus Christ. By faith we receive God’s victory and to depart from the faith is to walk away from the Lord himself.
It was a really great message. There was both emotion and information that came home to me. I was moved and encouraged to walk closer to God and trust him more. It made me want to communicate the scriptures to others with that kind of clarity.
But, in the discussion that followed, I heard something that bothered me. Several of the students didn’t like it. They preferred the first message, the one without any reference to God’s word. Someone even said, “I want to be able to preach the Bible without having to mention it.” I was floored.
I couldn’t help but think, “having a form of godliness, but denying it’s power.”
Then it really hit me. What happens when the churches are filled with preachers who tell stories and impress everyone with emotional man made chicken soup for the soul and do not preach the word of God? Now, I’m not against a good story! What I’m saying here is that moving stories are not a replacement for the Word of God. Muslims and Buddhists have moving stories. What people need is the Word of God.
Sometimes God says things in scripture that comfort us and make us feel good, but sometimes God says things that can and should awaken us with fear and trembling. Any preacher that hides the warnings of God from the church is a false teacher! Any Christian who listens only to that which tickles his or her ears is rebellious against God and walking in darkness.
Hear the word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah concerning these very things.
Jeremiah 23:9 My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right.
11 "For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness," says the LORD.
12 "Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the LORD.
13 "And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err.
14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: ’Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’"
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ’The LORD has said, "You shall have peace" ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ’No evil shall come upon you.’"
18 For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury; A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21 "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.
23 "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD.
25 "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ’I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’
26 "How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,
27 "who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
28 "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?" says the LORD.
29 "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30 "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who steal My words every one from his neighbor.
31 "Behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who use their tongues and say, ’He says.’
32 "Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," says the LORD, "and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all," says the LORD.
39 ’therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence.
40 ’And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’"
Let’s consider what this passage is saying. This was written over 2500 years ago. But not much has changed, has it? Does the church of today need to hear this message? What would happen if the word of God rang out in every pulpit of every church and was read, prayed over and obeyed in our homes, and committed to memory in our hearts!
Jenny and I were sitting on the back porch at home and I was listening as she read Jeremiah 23-24. I had intended to preach on chapter 18 about the potter and the clay. There God tells Jeremiah to go down to the potters house and he will give Jeremiah a message. Maybe we will do that one tonight.
As I listened to the words of God as Jenny read them through the prophet Jeremiah, I was stirred to remember that preaching class. We are a rich and comfortable people today. We have so much. We enjoy so many benefits living at this time in this country and in this particular part of this country. God has poured it on materially, spiritually, and in every way! And I think of the times of Israel and Judah when Jeremiah preached. They were wealthy and comfortable, by in large. God had given them abundance and they had the best preaching money can buy. The message they heard preached was prosperity and peace! Your best life now!
Listen to Jeremiah: 14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’"
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ’The LORD has said, "You shall have peace" ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ’No evil shall come upon you.’"
These prophets and priests don’t want to offend their biggest contributors. They don’t want to say things that might run off anyone.
I heard about a guy who was asked to preach for a church because the preacher had left. He got up and preached about prejudice and how we are all God’s children and that we should love one another. Some of his illustrations made a few members mad. He was called to a meeting and told not to talk about offensive things like that. The next week he preached on it even stronger, and the next and the next. He said, “Once I figured out what was wrong with them I went to work on it with God’s word.” People started leaving. They couldn’t fire him, because they’d never hired him. He was preaching for free! He said, “I preached that church of 80 people down to 15. Then we started to grow." Three years later there were over 250 people there and a lot of those who left ended up repenting and coming back.
God said through Jeremiah, 21 "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.
Listen. The best thing this church does is hear and obey the Word of God. The very best thing I can do for this church is preach the word of God to you and strive to live it as I pray for you. The best thing you can do for your family is turn off the TV and open the Bible together and share in the word of God and prayer as you fellowship together. Practice the love of God by devoting yourself to his word and prayer.
Listen again to God speaking through Jeremiah: 23 "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD.
25 "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ’I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’
26 "How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,
27 "who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
28 "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?" says the LORD.
29 "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
Listen. You don’t need to surround yourself with people who tell you what you want to hear. You need to surround yourself with people who will speak the truth of God’s word to you. I need people who, when I hear them, I hear the message of God. whether I like it or not.
We can’t hide from God. There is no escape from his sight. Hebrews 4:12-13 says: 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
In Jeremiah we hear the voice of God calling, warning, sometimes exasperated, sometimes furious, sometimes pleading, sometimes deeply sad, sometimes hopeful, sometimes promising a remnant will return, sometimes guaranteeing destruction and doom, but always a voice of truth. God speaks a timeless message of truth that we need desperately to hear and heed today.
